Bilateral ties between South Korea and Hungary offer ample opportunities, President János Áder told a press conference after talks with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Wednesday.
The volume of South Korean investments in Hungary has exceeded 5 billion US dollars, making the country one of the most important investors in Hungary, Áder said, noting that South Korea replaced Germany as the top investor in Hungary in 2019. At the United Nations COP26 climate summit held earlier this week in Glasgow, it became clear that the two countries have similar climate goals too, Áder said. They aim to become carbon neutral by 2050, and agree that that goal is impossible to fulfil without nuclear energy, he said. Áder pointed out, at the same time, that achieving climate neutrality required further efforts and developments which gave the two countries more opportunities for scientific, technological and economic cooperation.
Moon, who is the first Korean head of state to visit Hungary in the last 20 years, said the two countries worked to elevate their bilateral ties to a strategic partnership. He noted that bilateral trade turnover reached a record high last year in spite of the pandemic. Moon said that because South Korea was investing in innovative areas in Hungary like the electric vehicle and battery sectors, there was more room for them to expand their ties. He thanked Hungary for the help it provided after a deadly boat collision on the River Danube which took the lives of many South Korean tourists in 2019 and for erecting a memorial to the victims. Moon spoke highly of Hungary’s history of having been the first country in the region to establish diplomatic relations with South Korea and noted that Korea will also be present at a meeting of the Visegrad Group countries on Thursday. He also touched on the importance of the dialogue between the two Koreas and thanked Hungary for its support in this area.
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